If it's so easy to make a mint in this business - what (sic) you lot opening your own bike shops?
If running a bike shop makes such little sense and causes you so much aggro, why don't you find another line?
UK parts price rip-off?
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stinningspan
Re:UK parts price rip-off?
There is not what I would call a 'good' local bike shop. I have driven hundreds of miles to find a folding bike. None of the 'bike' shops have been particularly helpful - I have even phoned one several times and asked them to send me details, had a test ride, asked for a pro-forma invoice, how many returned calles - 0 ZERO NONE.
With service like this why shouldn't I go and buy from the cheapest online retailer ? I don't mind paying a premium for service - I object to paying a premium for B*GGER all.
Grumpy.
With service like this why shouldn't I go and buy from the cheapest online retailer ? I don't mind paying a premium for service - I object to paying a premium for B*GGER all.
Grumpy.
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Paul Power
Re:UK parts price rip-off?
To answer Donkee... question first - My reply wasn't meant as a way of voicing my disatisfaction with running a cycle shop, merely to highlight that the cost of supplying products does not simply include the cost of buying it in from the manufacturers.
When on previous occasions we have found ourself overstocked on certain bikes or parts, we have sold on ebay to clear stock. I might add that on the occasions, rare as they've been that we have done so, we have sold our products on a number of occasions at less than we've had to pay to buy them.
Thus someone similar to yourself, could easily conclude when looking at our give-away ebay price that everyone else was ripping them off. However this isn't the case.
A successful business needs to tend to it's cash flow and there are occasions when stock will be sold at less than cost price.
Grumpy -
As for your comments, I entirely agree why should you pay a premium for poor, substandard service.
That said, my reply to the initial post is that it's hardly fair to label all cycle retailers as ripping off their customers soley on the basis of an ebay - country-to-country price comparrison.
There are plenty of excellent cycle shops in the UK, who offer value-for-money and quality service.
There are also those who don't.
Unfortunately in your case it appears that you don't live near one.
Can I suggest you sell up and move to the most beautiful seaside town of Littlehampton, where we are based and enjoy quality service, value-for-money products, seaview etc.
Paul Power
www.paulpower.co.uk
When on previous occasions we have found ourself overstocked on certain bikes or parts, we have sold on ebay to clear stock. I might add that on the occasions, rare as they've been that we have done so, we have sold our products on a number of occasions at less than we've had to pay to buy them.
Thus someone similar to yourself, could easily conclude when looking at our give-away ebay price that everyone else was ripping them off. However this isn't the case.
A successful business needs to tend to it's cash flow and there are occasions when stock will be sold at less than cost price.
Grumpy -
As for your comments, I entirely agree why should you pay a premium for poor, substandard service.
That said, my reply to the initial post is that it's hardly fair to label all cycle retailers as ripping off their customers soley on the basis of an ebay - country-to-country price comparrison.
There are plenty of excellent cycle shops in the UK, who offer value-for-money and quality service.
There are also those who don't.
Unfortunately in your case it appears that you don't live near one.
Can I suggest you sell up and move to the most beautiful seaside town of Littlehampton, where we are based and enjoy quality service, value-for-money products, seaview etc.
Paul Power
www.paulpower.co.uk
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stinningspan
Re:UK parts price rip-off?
PaulP,
After seeing a couple of your posts on this formum I did visit your website and you would have got a call if you had carried the range of bikes I was after.
I believe that you have stood up on more than one occasion to complain about lack of support so I would have been happy to 'call your bluff'
If you can do me a Dahon MuSL + bag + mudguards + competitive price (I'm also debating whether to get a spare front wheel + hub dynamo - though I could use the one from my recumbent...) let me know.
As for the seaside and fresh air, I'm currently < 2 miles from a very pretty beach and < 10 miles from the North York Moors, why would I want to move - aprt from to be nearer a bike shop
TTFN
After seeing a couple of your posts on this formum I did visit your website and you would have got a call if you had carried the range of bikes I was after.
I believe that you have stood up on more than one occasion to complain about lack of support so I would have been happy to 'call your bluff'
If you can do me a Dahon MuSL + bag + mudguards + competitive price (I'm also debating whether to get a spare front wheel + hub dynamo - though I could use the one from my recumbent...) let me know.
As for the seaside and fresh air, I'm currently < 2 miles from a very pretty beach and < 10 miles from the North York Moors, why would I want to move - aprt from to be nearer a bike shop
TTFN
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Paul Power
Re:UK parts price rip-off?
Glad to see your mood is more upbeat. I'm sorry I can't help you with the bike you're looking for, but I can assure you were to contact our shop either via email/telephone or in person, we would reply to you to either say yes we can get it/have it, or no we can't.
Anyway, thanks for thinking of us!
Paul Power
www.paulpower.co.uk
Anyway, thanks for thinking of us!
Paul Power
www.paulpower.co.uk
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thirdcrank
Re:UK parts price rip-off?
I will put my two pennorth in for Sowerby Bros, Mirfield, West Yorks. as a good lbs.
IMO the UK lightweight trade, which is what most of us on here see as a proper bikeshop, was based on the rapidly fading notion of building or at least speccing your own special bike, then maintaining and upgrading that for years. We are moving, whether we like it or not, into the era of the mega bike shop selling the entire '07 ranges of several makers in '06, slashing the price of any remaining '06 stock etc. Whether the bikes bought (including £5,000+ state-of-the-art racing bikes) are appropriate or will be used more than a couple of times is irrelevant. Small, independent shops will struggle.
Incidentally, the cycle trade is not exactly famous for customer service. There are many praiseworthy exceptions but if you want to be patronised, sold what you don't want, be grumbled at, or be generally messed about then IMO a traditional lightweight bikeshop is as good as anywhere to start.
(E.g. I was once in the forerunner of a present well known W Yorks bike shop. A woman had just finished selecting a child's bike. The shopkeeper, for some reason known only to himself and having completed the sale pointed out the excellence of the 'joggled' chainset. The customer observantly pointed out that all the more expensive bikes in the shop had chainsets assembled from separate cranks and rings. The shopkeeper performed an excellent impression of a goldfish.)
IMO the UK lightweight trade, which is what most of us on here see as a proper bikeshop, was based on the rapidly fading notion of building or at least speccing your own special bike, then maintaining and upgrading that for years. We are moving, whether we like it or not, into the era of the mega bike shop selling the entire '07 ranges of several makers in '06, slashing the price of any remaining '06 stock etc. Whether the bikes bought (including £5,000+ state-of-the-art racing bikes) are appropriate or will be used more than a couple of times is irrelevant. Small, independent shops will struggle.
Incidentally, the cycle trade is not exactly famous for customer service. There are many praiseworthy exceptions but if you want to be patronised, sold what you don't want, be grumbled at, or be generally messed about then IMO a traditional lightweight bikeshop is as good as anywhere to start.
(E.g. I was once in the forerunner of a present well known W Yorks bike shop. A woman had just finished selecting a child's bike. The shopkeeper, for some reason known only to himself and having completed the sale pointed out the excellence of the 'joggled' chainset. The customer observantly pointed out that all the more expensive bikes in the shop had chainsets assembled from separate cranks and rings. The shopkeeper performed an excellent impression of a goldfish.)
Re:UK parts price rip-off?
glen wrote:The commercial philosophy in the UK whenever a new product or service has to be marketed is this: "How much can we charge before people say it's too expensive", in other countries, the USA in particular, they ask: "How little can we charge and still make a profit".
Having lived in the US for 4 years (and the UK for much longer before) I can tell you that this assertion is twaddle, even when thinking of today's exchange rates. The only products and services which are cheaper here are those where competition for the larger market dictates that, and that's a short list.
Bikes, and particularly bike bits, are very much more expensive here than in the UK, and that is before considering VAT discounts if you buy by mail order - which I always do. I haven't put a foot in any bike shop here since one of the local "pro" bike shops told me they didn't build wheels anymore.
One thing is for sure, if I had to trust the retail sector in the UK or the US, it'd be the UK every time. Now how alarming is that?
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reohn2
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Mrs Tortoise
- Posts: 453
- Joined: 8 Jan 2007, 11:44pm
- Location: Dorchester, Dorset
As a woman buying bikes/bike bits, there is a risk of being taken for a ride, however, I've found my local bike shops helpful and knowledgeable. In return I try to spread my purchasing around to help maintain all of them, I can and do buy cheaper on the net at times, but I like to keep what I regard as a local facility, going as long as possible. I wouldn't buy a bike from Tesco if they sold them.
Also one shop I use, lost a franchise for a well known bike brand because he offered a discount before the end of the 'season'. So the manufacturers can also be part of the problem.
Also one shop I use, lost a franchise for a well known bike brand because he offered a discount before the end of the 'season'. So the manufacturers can also be part of the problem.
A lot of the recent differences are explainable by short-term currency movements - particularly the plummeting US dollar.
Prices in the USA are lower because:
1 A lower taxation regime
2 The prices are shown BEFORE sales tax (typically 8%)
3 The fact that 40% of the population have no healthcare cover.
4 The USA is a bigger, uniform market - importers have more buying power, and a cost saving from no need to make instruction books in Serbo-Croat, Dutch, Polish etc.
5 Generally lower land costs
To me, as a cancer patient 3 years in remission a few quid extra on bike parts compared to £50,000 on treatment seems like a good deal. Riding a Litespeed is less fun when you are dead.
Prices in the USA are lower because:
1 A lower taxation regime
2 The prices are shown BEFORE sales tax (typically 8%)
3 The fact that 40% of the population have no healthcare cover.
4 The USA is a bigger, uniform market - importers have more buying power, and a cost saving from no need to make instruction books in Serbo-Croat, Dutch, Polish etc.
5 Generally lower land costs
To me, as a cancer patient 3 years in remission a few quid extra on bike parts compared to £50,000 on treatment seems like a good deal. Riding a Litespeed is less fun when you are dead.
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ThomasDylan
hamster, I fully agree with your points. However, my original post was regarding the gross discrepancy on two eBay items; one in the UK and one in Germany.
I'm based in Hungary (where decent bikes are very expensive), so I source a lot of my stuff from Germany. It's a generalisation, but you can nearly always count on UK prices in Pounds being the same figure in Euros in Germany. So a 500 Pound bike is 500 Euros in Germany.
Now, Germany is not renowned for having a poor health infrastructure, nor for not having a joined-up transport network like the UK's. That's why I feel disgruntled...
I'm based in Hungary (where decent bikes are very expensive), so I source a lot of my stuff from Germany. It's a generalisation, but you can nearly always count on UK prices in Pounds being the same figure in Euros in Germany. So a 500 Pound bike is 500 Euros in Germany.
Now, Germany is not renowned for having a poor health infrastructure, nor for not having a joined-up transport network like the UK's. That's why I feel disgruntled...
Its not just Germany. I frequently purchase parts from Holland - even paying for postage it is cheaper than the same part in England.
Paid 10 Euro for a busch and Muller mirror - the same mirror in local shop £14.
I have also found that there is a wider range and choice - many things that are readily available in Holland, Germany and Belgium being unavailable in England.
I recently wanted a Humpert handlebar. It took great determination, many phone calls to the UK importer and an email to Herr Humpert in Germany -before I was eventually able to buy it.
Very annoying.
Better food, better transport system, better health care - and most things are cheaper.
Paid 10 Euro for a busch and Muller mirror - the same mirror in local shop £14.
I have also found that there is a wider range and choice - many things that are readily available in Holland, Germany and Belgium being unavailable in England.
I recently wanted a Humpert handlebar. It took great determination, many phone calls to the UK importer and an email to Herr Humpert in Germany -before I was eventually able to buy it.
Very annoying.
Better food, better transport system, better health care - and most things are cheaper.
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Mrs Tortoise
- Posts: 453
- Joined: 8 Jan 2007, 11:44pm
- Location: Dorchester, Dorset
Jac wrote:Its not just Germany. I frequently purchase parts from Holland - even paying for postage it is cheaper than the same part in England.
Paid 10 Euro for a busch and Muller mirror - the same mirror in local shop £14.
I have also found that there is a wider range and choice - many things that are readily available in Holland, Germany and Belgium being unavailable in England.
I recently wanted a Humpert handlebar. It took great determination, many phone calls to the UK importer and an email to Herr Humpert in Germany -before I was eventually able to buy it.
Very annoying.
Better food, better transport system, better health care - and most things are cheaper.
So what is the attraction of Lincolnshire?
When I return from tours around Europe I see very little attraction of Lincolnshire or England.
Being realistic - Lincolnshire is peacefull ( boring is the other word) and has a relatively low crime rate. If I were younger I would move to Belgium or Holland.
I lived in Germany - just outside Munich - for six years. The language barrier can be very isolating.
As you will have noticed I am still having some problems spelling in English - not sure I have enough years left to learn to comunicate fully in Flemish.
Being realistic - Lincolnshire is peacefull ( boring is the other word) and has a relatively low crime rate. If I were younger I would move to Belgium or Holland.
I lived in Germany - just outside Munich - for six years. The language barrier can be very isolating.
As you will have noticed I am still having some problems spelling in English - not sure I have enough years left to learn to comunicate fully in Flemish.
